About Simple Wisdom

In an age when there is so much choice, why does it feel so much harder to live?  How is it that in an America in which we are members of more communities, we feel so much more alone? Why in a society obsessed with romance do so few of us experience real love?  Why at a time when so many of us are seeking spirituality does it seem so hard to find? 

In the 21^st century, we are presented with more options and challenges than ever before.  Yet more people report feeling isolated, insecure, depressed and unhappy.  Some turn to fundamentalism, some to self-help, but for most Americans neither alternative provides the answers. 

SIMPLE WISDOM, a new public television series with Irwin Kula, a nationally recognized spiritual leader, offers a third alternative. “SIMPLE WISDOM is where religion, self-help and spirituality meet,” says Kula, a cutting-edge thinker, speaker, teacher and rabbi, who has touched the lives of thousands of people across the country.  “It is an attempt to bring an ancient wisdom to the challenges of daily life.  It looks at our relationship to each other as much as to ourselves.”   

Informed by Jewish wisdom, this 13-part weekly, half-hour TV show, nationally distributed and airing in early April, addresses the broad issues and paradoxes of life.  Taped in front of a live audience, the series covers such topics as work, love, money, sex, community, family, the body, forgiveness, connection, conversation, identity, spirituality, and death, and will be available to viewers in most major cities around the U.S.   

“In the American marketplace of ideas, we can’t have enough wisdom,” says Kula.  “Jewish tradition offers us a perspective on finding answers to life’s problems, but ultimately it leaves it up to the individual to make his or her own choice.”  Each episode presents the tensions created by the issues and offers a few practical exercises for daily living. 

“For years, through the power of television, Americans have been able to draw from many traditions – Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity,” says Kula.  “Jewish wisdom has rarely been brought to the marketplace.  It was something to protect, to use to ensure Jewish identity.  But today, because of the pluralism and freedom of America, Jewish wisdom can now be offered as a resource for all.”         

Irwin Kula, named by both Fast Company magazine and Religion and Ethics Newsweekly (PBS-TV) as a new leader on the American spiritual landscape, is the President of CLAL–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.  Founded in 1974, CLAL, a central voice for religious pluralism, is a leadership training institute, think tank and resource center. 

SIMPLE WISDOM was produced by the Jewish Television Network (JTN).  JTN is the only producer and distributor of Jewish television in the United States.  It produces a number of series for public television including “New Jewish Cuisine.”  

For more information about SIMPLE WISDOM, or to interview Irwin Kula, please contact Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs at CLAL, at 212-779-3300, ext. 108 (jepstein@clal.org).

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